An electoral official says the hip-hop artist fails to meet several legal requirements for candidacy, but does not elaborate.
From Reuters August 20, 2010

Port-au-Prince, Haiti 
Haitian American hip-hop star Wyclef Jean is not on the list of approved candidates who satisfy legal requirements to run in Haiti's Nov. 28 presidential election, an electoral official said Thursday.
The presidential bid by the 39-year-old singer-songwriter and international celebrity had triggered widespread enthusiasm in his poor, earthquake-ravaged Caribbean homeland. But it had been challenged on the grounds that Jean, whose primary residence is in New Jersey, did not fully meet the requirements, including a key one on Haitian residency.

"He is not on the list as I speak," said the member of the country's provisional electoral council, who asked not to be identified.

He said the electoral disputes bureau entrusted with settling challenges to candidacies had ruled that Jean did not meet several legal requirements, but he gave no details.

Jean, who left Haiti with his family to live in Brooklyn, N.Y., at the age of 9 and launched his music career in the United States, was among 34 contenders for the Haitian presidency who filed their documents with the council this month.

There was no immediate comment from Jean, who earlier Thursday met President Rene Preval in Port-au-Prince, the nation's capital.

The provisional electoral council was expected Friday to formally publish the list of approved candidates to succeed Preval, who cannot seek reelection, having served two terms in office.

Haiti is still struggling to recover from the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people and dealt a crippling blow to a country that was already the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.

Presidential hopeful Wyclef Jean leaves the Kinam Hotel in Petionville, Port-au-Prince just before it is officially announced that his candidacy was rejected, Friday Aug. 20, 2010. PETER ANDREW BOSCH ​

PETIONVILLE -- Nineteen candidates will contest Haitian presidency
PETIONVILLE -- It's official: Hip Hop star Wyclef Jean's bid to become Haiti's next president has ended.
Jean was not among the 19 candidates who made the final cut of 34 presidential hopefuls Friday.
The long-awaited announcement was made in a former workout room turned conference room for Haiti's electoral council, which decided who was eligible to run.
Also out: Miami activist Lavarice Gaudin.
But the race will include two former prime ministers: Jacques-Edouard Alexis and Yvon Neptune. Former Minister for Haitians Living Abroad and Swiss educated engineer, Jude Celestin, Preval's pick, also made the cut.
As the CEP released the list of eligibles, Jean was in route to Lassare after having spent most of the day holed up in a hillside hotel room in walking distamce of the CEP headquarters. ​

By the CNN Wire Staff
Port-Au-Prince, Haiti -- Hip-hop singer Wyclef Jean is not on the list of candidates approved by Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council to run in this year's presidential election.
Jean's name was not on the list of 19 approved candidates Haitian elections officials read to reporters Friday night.
"I respectfully accept the committee's final decision, and I urge my supporters to do the same," Jean said in a statement Friday night.
In an interview with CNN shortly after the approved candidate list was announced, Jean said he was surprised by the news.
"This has come to our party and to our group as a total shock," he said.
Jean was among 15 prospective candidates rejected. Elections officials did not provide a reason to reporters, but Jean's statement said they had ruled he was not a resident of the country.
"I want to assure my countrymen that I will continue to work for Haiti's renewal; though the board has determined that I am not a resident of Haiti, home is where the heart is -- and my heart has and will always be in Haiti," Jean's statement said. "This ruling just tells me that I can't officially seek the office of president. More importantly, there is no one who can tell me to stop my work in Haiti, and there is no one who could."
He told CNN he planned to explore options to continue with his candidacy. "We will see if we will appeal it or not," he said.
Jean's eligibility had been under question recently after claims that he had not lived in Haiti for five consecutive years before the election, a requirement in the nation's constitution. Jean's lawyer had said his client met that criteria.
Earlier this week, Jean challenged media reports that he would not be eligible to run, but also entertained the possibility that he would be declared ineligible, telling CNN's Larry King on Thursday that he would continue organizing Haiti's youth to push for education reform.
"Haiti's constitution says that all kids should have the privilege of a free education, and that's something we'll push for whether we make it or not," he said.
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